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Ch. 13

When Peter got out of school, he was exhausted. People had been whispering about him all day and he'd been asked to sign various things. Flash hadn't given him a problem, thankfully. Peter wasn't sure he could resist the urge to punch him in the face if he said something stupid. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep for the rest of the month. Screw graduation; he was taking over Stark Industries, he didn't need a diploma.

He was walking out the front doors, blaring music in his headphones to block out all the whispers in the hallways, when he ran into someone. He pulled his headphones off and looked up to see Mr. Stark standing in front of him, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, h-hey, Mr. Stark," Peter said, pulling his headphones all the way off his head and looping them around his neck. He could still hear the music loud and clear, so he scrambled to turn it off as he asked Mr. Stark, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to make sure the press wasn't bothering you anymore," he replied, wrapping his arm around Peter's shoulders and guiding him through the parking lot.

"Oh, that's okay," Peter assured him. "Michelle got rid of them. I'm okay, Mr. Stark, I swear."

"Yeah, well I still wanted to come and make sure," Mr. Stark said. He let go of Peter so they could climb into the car and leave the school.

"Where's May?" Peter asked as they drove out of the parking lot.

"Oh, she's at work," Mr. Stark answered. Peter had figured as much, but it was weird for Mr. Stark to pick him up on a Tuesday after school. "Don't worry, everything's fine. I just wanted to make sure you were okay after your first official day of fame."

"Oh," Peter said softly. He nodded then glanced over to see Mr. Stark looking at him. "Hey! Eyes on the road!"

"FRIDAY's driving," Mr. Stark told him. He let go of the wheel and Peter screamed. "See? We're okay. Now tell me how your first day of fame was."

"Only once you put your hands back on the wheel," Peter told him. Mr. Stark rolled his eyes but did as told.

"So? How was it?" Mr. Stark asked again. Peter shrugged.

"Okay, I guess," he answered. Mr. Stark frowned and Peter rushed to assure him it was fine. "Nothing bad happened, I swear, Mr. Stark! It's just, everyone was whispering and I could hear them and people kept staring at me or coming up to talk to me and it was really, really weird."

"Yeah," Mr. Stark said, nodding in understanding. "I get it. I bet superhearing makes it worse, too." Peter nodded.

"You have no idea," he replied. Mr. Stark sighed, trying to think up ways to make the day better when he spotted an ice cream shop.

"How about we get some ice cream to make today better?" he suggested. Peter grinned and nodded, so Mr. Stark pulled up to the ice cream shop and parked the car. They got out of the car and Mr. Stark followed Peter inside.

"Welcome to Pat's Ice Cream," the employee said, smiling up at them from the cash register. The young girl immediately recognised Mr. Stark and he inwardly sighed. However, she didn't say anything as she waited for the two to pick their ice cream flavours. When they were ready, she scooped their cones and handed them to them with wide eyes.

"Why couldn't I get coffee?" Peter asked, licking his cake batter cone while Mr. Stark pulled out a credit card. Mr. Stark glanced at him just in time to see him panic as a bit of ice cream trickled down his hand.

"Because I don't want to deal with a caffeinated Peter," Mr. Stark replied, handing the employee his card. "You're bad enough hyped up on sugar."

"Am not," Peter objected, biting into his ice cream. Mr. Stark rolled his eyes and thanked the girl as he took his credit card back. Rather than go back to the car, they found seats at a table and sat down to eat their ice cream.

Peter told Mr. Stark all about his first day back after the announcement, leaving out the parts about Flash apologising for bullying him as that would bring up a whole new set of problems. He assured Mr. Stark he didn't really mind the reporters outside as they hadn't bothered him the rest of the day.

"Besides, I think MJ scared them off," he said before biting into his waffle cone.

"Not surprised," Mr. Stark replied. Peter gave him a look.

"She's not that bad, Mr. Stark," he said. Mr. Stark raised his eyebrows at him.

"She teamed up with Pepper and I'm pretty sure she hates my guts," he reminded Peter. Peter pursed his lips, recalling the last time Pepper and Michelle had been together.

"Maybe she'll warm up to you eventually," Peter said. Mr. Stark was doubtful but didn't say anything else. Instead, he handed Peter a napkin after watching his ice cream run down his arm. Peter just frowned and shoved the rest of his cone in his mouth before saying he was going to wash his hands. Mr. Stark rolled his eyes but let Peter go. He finished his own cone then wiped off his hands and waited for Peter.